I Admit It: I Love the Lonestar State

On Wednesday, we say a sad good-bye to our relatives here in Dallas and head across Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi as we wind our way toward Detroit. There are only a few states I've not visited and those three are on the list, so we're taking the long way home to see a bit of them. I used to love the show, In the Heat of the Night, so my family is sure to be blessed with me humming the theme song all the way across Mississippi.

Our time in Dallas has been lovely. We spent yesterday at a waterpark, and today we rode the commuter train into the city to walk around and visit the location where President Kennedy was shot. The museum and gift shop were very nice, but it was an odd feeling to think about that building and how it must have been that day in 1963. What you can't see in this picture are two X's which mark the spots where his car was when he was hit. The grassy knoll is that grass area to the right.

When we first rode into Dallas on Saturday, it just seemed like another big city. Now we see the beauty of it. We see how everything appears to be clean and new. We are amazed that there are middle class neighborhoods right in the city. We love the public transportation and the mix of cultures. I suspect that we could easily live here.

In another year or two we expect to make this trip again, but that time it will be for our niece's wedding. What a happy trip that will be.

Before we arrived in Texas, I thought it would be hot. It is. I thought it would be big. It is. I thought it would be just another state. It's not. Someone told me today that at the start of each legislative year, the Texas state lawmakers vote on whether or not to succeed from the U.S. It's probably a symbolic tradition, but I think that if Texas ever did succeed from the Union, it would hold its own.

Is Dallas Really a Part of Texas?

The drive from El Paso to Dallas was very interesting ... for one hour (and that's being generous.) Lots of cactus. Ample dirt. And enough sun to recharge any vitamin D deficiency I may have for the next decade. After that first hour, I went into a type of passenger-trance so the next 9 hours are a blur.

We are now in very urbane Dallas with Checkered's sister and are enjoying our reunion time with her family. Yesterday we went to the historic part of Fort Worth so Checkered could look Western and fit in a little better than his new look would fit-in in Dallas or any other part of Texas.

Amazingly, the bank temp displays showed 119 yesterday. But somehow in that heat, our kids walked through a maze at Fort Worth. Now to end on a little braggadocio: my boys finished in 13 minutes. Their sister and cousins (including a nurse and an engineer) finished in 30 minutes.

Now to plot our path back to Detroit. That is, if I can bear the sorrow of leaving Texas.